This invention relates generally to hinged containers, and more specifically to smoothwall hinged containers having vents for increasing the circulation through the containers.
Oftentimes, fruit is put in a container right after being picked, and the fruit is transported in this container to the retailer for selling. Many containers with fruit are transported long distances before reaching their final destination. During the transit, the fruit may become bruised due to a variety of causes. For example, the fruit may experience a lot of jostling, resulting in bouncing against other fruit or walls of the container. Also, the fruit may be smashed into a corner of the container. If bruised fruit is found by a seller, it is discarded as scrap and, therefore, counts as a loss. If the seller does not notice the bruised fruit and it is purchased by a consumer, this can result in customer dissatisfaction.
Another problem associated with transporting certain fruit is spoilage. Some fruits need to be kept cold to retain their freshness during transit and up until they are sold to a customer. To keep the fruit inside the container cool, refrigerated trucks are used that circulate air while the containers are in transit.
Since numerous pieces of fruit are often in one container, however, it is difficult to keep the fruit cool by only circulating air around the container. Containers have been developed that include vents in the bottom and along the sides of the container to increase airflow therethrough. In these containers, air is circulated not only around the outside, but some of the air flows into the container and circulates around the fruit.
These existing containers, however, do not adequately circulate air therethrough. There is still fruit on the inside of the container that may not be kept cool through these circulation efforts. The containers are often stacked on top of each other, and the cool air never reaches the venting apertures in the bottom of some of the containers.
Thus, there is a need for a container that improves the transport of fruit by reducing or inhibiting bruising and/or improving air circulation.
A hinged container includes a basket having a base, a pair of sidewalls, and a pair of endwalls. The pair of sidewalls and the pair of endwalls integrally extend outwardly to form a first latching portion. A concave channel, a first concave region, and a second concave region are all formed in the base. The concave channel extends along a major axis of the base, while the first concave region extends from the concave channel to one of the pair of sidewalls, and the second concave region extends from the concave channel to the other of the pair of sidewalls. A lid is hingedly connected to the first latching portion. The lid includes a second latching portion corresponding to the first latching portion. The first and second latching portions lock together to retain the lid and the basket in a closed relationship.